Off-leash area for small dogs only opens in Portland

View full sizeAndrew Maddocks/The OregonianBuddy, a 16-year-old Shetland sheepdog, relaxes with Mandiy Fontana at Normandale Park in Portland on Wednesday. Normandale just opened Portland's first fenced-in play area for small or timid dogs, but Buddy was tough enough for the main dog park.

For years, owners of small dogs have asked the Portland Bureau of Parks & Recreation to set aside an off-leash area just for pint-size pups.

Now they have one.

Northeast Portland's Normandale Park now includes a play area only for small (under 25 pounds), shy or elderly dogs.

It's not the first in the metro area -- Tigard's Potso Dog Park opened in 2002 and includes a small-dog area, and Hillsboro and Lake Oswego followed suit -- but it's yet another option among Portland's 32 off-leash dog areas.

On Wednesday, Joanne Dority brought her two miniature schnauzers, Luke and Leo, to Normandale, which they've visited for four years.

"These guys are highly socialized," Dority said, so she let them romp in the regular area with dogs twice their size. But she said the new area is an important haven for other dogs.

"You're supposed to take your dog out the minute they do something aggressive," Dority said, "but some people don't know that."

A Parks & Rec advisory group set plans in motion for the new area this year after reading 2004 recommendations from a previous committee.

"This has been a long time coming," said Ali Ryan, a Parks & Rec program specialist. "We heard from a lot of dog owners in the community that wanted a safe area for their teeny tiny pets to play."

View full sizeThe new off-leash area for small dogs only in Portland's Normandale Park.

The Nutro Co., a pet food producer, offered $1,800 for the project as part of a campaign to improve 30 dog parks in the U.S. and Canada. Normandale Park emerged as the best location, Ryan said, because much of the fencing was already in place from two other doggie play areas.

So on June 16 and 17, park workers built the new area's fence and gates. Volunteers from Nutro Co. spent June 19 painting and spreading chips and sand at the 7,500-square-foot enclosure.

Luke and Leo ended their Wednesday play date with a break in the new area. They had it to themselves. But as word spreads, no doubt they'll have more company their own size.